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I've enjoyed this series since the original title and, although was happy to have Yakuza 3 brought over to the states, was highly disappointed in the cuts made (especially in regards to mahjong). I run a mahjong organization in Portland, OR and, now that they will be releasing Yakuza 4 with everything in tact, I couldn't be happier.

I hope they leaving in all the original content. Some American gamers, like myself, enjoy the Japanese culture and everything that comes with it. j-Pop, Anime, the food, the hyper-culture. Why would we want a portion of that removed?

If someone doesn't Want to play mahjong (sp) they won't play that part of the game.

I have this game and it's great. If X-Play reviewed games before their North American releases I'd bet it would get a 5 or maybe 4 out of 5. The thing is I am hesitant about buying the North American version after hearing X-Play talk about all of the sections cut out of the third version for the North American release. I was impressed by the firm stance taken during the review of the third one telling them not to cut that much content out again, but I worry that too many consumers would just make their purchase decisions without knowing anything about the original versions and how much they were missing out on.

It's a good game in my opinion, but with it taking place in Japan and with the story elements being Japanese, I wonder if the North American version will sell well. On the other hand, I guess a lot of gamers pay for games that take place in say ancient Italy or somewhere and don't think it's weird (as long as all of the Italians speak with totally era-appropriate British accents) so it might be fine. For a converted Japanese game that takes place in maybe a fictional setting it doesn't make much of a difference which version you play, but for this series I bet a lot will be lost in the conversion even if not as much is blatantly cut out like in the third one.

This looks all right, but the bottom line is, I think it's better to enjoy games in whatever original form they were made in if you're able to. This could be hard for people who don't understand the language but hey if you don't maybe it can become education and entertainment at the same time. Or, for the North American release, why don't they give you both versions and let you choose the version like they do with movies on DVD/Bluray? But that's besides the point...

Anyway I really liked whatever Yakuza it was that I played back on my old PS2. I thought it was kind of a cool little game and actually aside from predictability not a bad story line at all. If this one was on the Xbox I'd prolly pick it up. Although looking at the fighting scenes in the first 15 seconds of that clip maybe I wouldn't pick it up...

They really need to stop bringing this title to America... I never see this game sell past the first day if at all. I am sure its amazing but I gave up after part 1. This is really one of those games that needs to stay as an import.....